In 2024, 94% of French households had access to the Internet, compared to 82% ten years ago. France now has 48.5 million daily internet users, and French people spend on average 2 hours 40 minutes each day on the internet, compared to 2 hours 6 minutes in 2019. Mobile phones are still the screen of choice for connecting : 80% of time spent online was actually on smartphones. And apps accounted for 94% of time spent on mobile phones.

"The Internet keeps on growing ; more equipment, more connections and more time spent. Online media were particularly popular, driven by strong sports and political news, and are resisting the omnipotence of social media. The arrival of conversational AI tools, which are already used by one French person in five, increases the range of possibilities and contributes to the acceleration of the digitalisation of our daily lives."

Bertrand Krug, Digital & Press Director

More connections

2 hours 40 minutes. This was the average time spent each day on the Internet. While 15-24-year-olds devoted 4 hours 21 minutes to it, an increase of 23% compared to 2019, older people confirmed their increasing engagement : the time spent by 50-64-year-olds increased by 40% compared to 2019, to 2 hours 53 minutes ; the time spent by those aged 65 and over jumped by 82% to reach 1 hour 53 minutes per day.

Another good indicator of internet consumption is the average number of internet sessions* carried out on smartphones : 20 sessions lasting 11 minutes on average every day. And up to 24 sessions lasting 14 minutes on average for 15-24-year-olds.

Audiences punctuated by unusual news

Olympic fever meant that sports media websites and apps reached 31.3 million internet users during August 2024, with a record of 12.6 million fans for 2 August alone, the day of the French gold medals in swimming and BMX. The same goes for news websites and apps, which achieved a record (excluding the health crisis) of 23.7 million visitors on Sunday 30 June, the day of the 1st round of the legislative elections.

Social media enjoyed resoundingly success

Of the 2 hours 40 minutes spent on the internet, 1 hour 3 minutes was dedicated to social media and messaging services. There were disparities according to age, since 15-24-year-olds devoted 60% of their daily surfing time (i.e. 2 hours 35 minutes) to them, while 50-64-year-olds spent (all the same) 50 minutes per day (or 29% of their daily surfing time) on them. Also among 15-24-year-olds, 8 out of 10 internet sessions include at least one visit to social media.

Being entertained online at the heart of an abundant offering

 "At a time when a significant part of internet activity is concentrated on social media, entertainment, driven by video, audio and online games, also managed to create real centres of attraction.
Video was at the heart of uses and attracted 52.5 million French people to online video websites and apps every month. And even 26 million of them every day."

Catherine Poullet, Director of Internet Audience Measurement

Overall, 25% of Total Video time was consumed from a mobile phone, computer or tablet. Unsurprisingly, streaming platforms showed dynamism : AVoD players (free advertising-supported platforms) attracted 78% of French people, while TV channel platforms and so-called SVoD paid platforms attracted an average of 1 in 2 French people each month, on the 3 internet devices. The same observation applies to digital audio platforms (streaming and radio), which also engaged 1 in 2 French people each month.

Another major form of entertainment enabled by the web, the world of online gaming, attracted almost 7 out of 10 French people (68%) each month. That figure was 18% higher than October 2019.

A buying streak

While all forms of e-commerce were on the rise, we noted an outperformance of large-scale retail websites and apps, which attracted 37.3 million unique monthly visitors, up 28% compared to 2019. At the same time, the number of internet users who view pure players in e-commerce increased by 11% in 5 years, which represents a total of 44.2 million potential buyers each month.

Second-hand, ultra-discount and sales events also attracted Internet users looking for bargains. And in particular the youngest : 15-34-year-olds accounted for 28% of the monthly audience of ultra-discount websites and apps, which attracted a total of 30.7 million monthly visitors.

AI causing shock waves

In December 2024, nearly 1 in 5 French people used conversational AI tools, which is 12.2 million people already. That’s a 3-point increase on December 2023.

Young people took up this new feature more massively : every month 54% of 15-24-year-olds used conversational AI tools.

*A mobile phone session corresponds to a “sequence of use” of a smartphone. After 5 minutes without any browsing activity recorded on this device, a new mobile phone session is considered to have started.